I sometimes get on my high horse, not so much as I used to because I have come to realize that small is better. I prefer being on the smaller critters. I also now prefer to lay low on supposedly controversial issues.

There is nothing at all controversial about being involved in the recycling effort. It’s obviously something that everyone should do, the level of involvement of course being wide in scope. Home and community based recycling efforts, it is all equally important.

My sister Eleanor recently had a very astute comment – she said that the real problem lies in the hands of corporations,

Alys hits the hoops

who are continuing to promote the use of plastic, mainly by making it so that consumers have no choice when they purchase needed goods. For instance, toothbrushes are made of plastic, and come in plastic containers. What are we going to do, boycott Oral B and have our teeth rot? I now use bamboo toothbrushes – I found some at Natural Pantry – the price though, was outrageous.

Plastics are also an oil derivative. And the oil industry of course is still going strong. So what to do?

My thought is, until a possible solution emerges, continue to recycle, and continue to encourage friends, neighbors, anyone and everyone to recycle. Locally, we are in danger of having recreational land become landfill cells. And ironically, the local recycling center is located adjacent to the dump.

I am doing my part; although I am feeling right now like I’m swimming against a very strong tide. The State Fair Recycling Collection and Sorting effort is ongoing, but to me it feels like it may be reaching an impasse. There is infighting. Some, because they are squabbling, are not putting their energy into the job at hand. There are also far fewer volunteers this year than last. For example, this evening there were no evening volunteers, so Pete and I went out and did collection runs.

I don’t know why the reason for the lack of volunteers, has to do with coordination and contact, or are people just not interested? There also seems to be confusion about job roles. And I also don’t feel the creative energy in the air that I felt in the past. There is so much that we could do, i.e., get better snacks for the volunteers, spend more time talking with vendors, have cart pullers dress up. However, none of this is happening. I don’t feel, as I should, as though the job is fun.

And there is the usual lack of interest in general on the part of State Fair attendees. Tonight I ran into an acquaintance and her two teenage daughters. The kids saw Pete and me with our carts and cocked their hips and rolled their eyes. And their mother asked if we were getting tired doing what we were doing. Of course, the comeback lines came later.

Ahh, but the up side is that sorting and collecting continues – and I think we are both getting the bulk of the recyclable goods and through example getting the word out that recycling is important. This is far better than doing nothing at all.